Final season was proof ties needed to leave college football

Final season was proof ties needed to leave college football

For all the fond memories of yesteryear, the final season when ties were allowed in college football — 1995 — was a reminder of why they went away.

The ties that season included a Pac-10 game that ended up deciding who went to the Rose Bowl; an ugly 3-3 snoozefest between Big Ten foes that was the final Division I game to finish tied; and a lower-level national title game that finished with co-champions and is believed to be the final college game to end deadlocked.

Findlay took a knee on the final play rather than make a final desperation effort to provide a winner.

Then-Seattle Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson was in attendance at the title game to watch his nephew who played for Central Washington.

Kitna was later signed by the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent and eventually stuck around the NFL for parts of 14 seasons.

USC rallied with three touchdowns in the final 15 minutes, capped by Brad Otton's 2-yard TD pass to Jimmy Williams with 33 seconds left.

Because USC had a better non-conference record than Washington, the Trojans knew a tie was to their benefit and didn't even think about going for the 2-point conversion.